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Reki was leaning against the counter. It was his turn to man the cash register at Dope Sketch as Langa was on the floor helping customers and stocking up the shelves. It was the beginning of the afternoon and the shop was quite busy. From experienced skaters coming in to buy some parts to beginners coming in for their first board, they didn't have a lot of time to breathe in between customers. Even a few families came in with excited children who squealed at the sight of bright coloured boards.
Reki stole looks at Langa between making customers pay. The blue-haired teen looked much more at ease on the floor than he was a few months ago when he got hired. He knew a lot more about skating and was more comfortable with helping customers too. Reki smiled at the sight.
The flow of customers slowed down a little around three, and Langa took that opportunity to stock up some shelves that were getting a bit empty.
“How are you holding up?” He asked Reki as he put new wheels on the assigned shelf.
“I’m good.” Reki assured him with a smile. “It’s nice having so many people coming in.”
Langa hummed in agreement but was distracted by the little bell above the door ringing when someone entered the shop. Langa picked up the box of accessories and put it back behind the counter. He stood back up just as a girl around their age entered Dope Sketch. She had long, blonde hair and a black cap on her head. She was wearing a white baggy t-shirt from an expensive brand and a black and white checkered skirt. She had black Vans on her feet and was holding a checkered red and black skateboard under one arm. Her stance and attitude were very chill but confident, and she looked around the store with a fierce look. She looked like a typical skater girl, and if Reki hadn’t been with Langa he would’ve probably tried flirting with her.
“Welcome.” Langa greeted her which brought Reki back to the present.
He watched as the girl who had been looking around the shop turned towards Langa. She looked him up and down, taking the blue-haired teen in. Reki didn’t like the look she had on her face. It was way too similar to the way he looked at his boyfriend when he was in the mood.
“Hi!” The girl said, all her attention on Langa. “Do you mind helping me with a few things?” She added with a sweet smile.
Reki knew it was his job, but he hoped Langa would say no. But of course, Langa nodded and followed the girl farther away from the counter. Reki couldn’t really hear what they were talking about, but he could hear it every time the girl threw her head back and laughed at something Langa had just said. Her laugh was high pitched and something about it wasn’t pleasant to his ears. Reki kept his eyes on them as he picked up a pen. He needed to do something with his hands before he punched a wall or something.
He twirled the pen between his fingers, and each time he thought they were done, the girl would get closer to Langa and ask another question as she batted her eyelashes. Reki heard the back door of the shop open but paid it no mind. He had to keep his eyes on Langa and the girl. Anyway, it was probably just Oka coming back from running his errand. As if he had been summoned, Oka poked his head from the back store.
“Everything ok?” Oka asked.
Reki grunted but didn’t answer Oka. The girl had just leaned closer to Langa and she had her fingers around his bicep. Reki just knew she was squeezing Langa’s arm. The longer this went on, the more annoyed he was. The girl flirting with Langa was one thing, but why didn’t Langa push her away? He was acting as if nothing was wrong. It was infuriating. Langa never seemed to notice when people were flirting with him, and it happened way too often, according to Reki.
“Oh.” Oka said when he followed Reki’s eyes.
Reki glanced quickly at his manager, finally acknowledging his presence.
“Are you ok, kid?” The man asked.
“I’m fine.” Reki grumbled.
The redhead turned towards his boyfriend and the girl just in time to see her knock some knee protectors on the floor. She laughed with a slight blush and apologized as Langa bent down to pick everything up. Reki saw the way she looked at his boyfriend’s ass and didn’t appreciate it. At all. In all honesty, he had also watched Langa’s ass as he bent down but he had every right! Langa was his boyfriend, after all! The girl had a hungry look in her eyes as Langa stood back up. Without meaning to, Reki tightened his hold on his pen and it snapped, ink oozing all over his fingers.
“Shit.” Reki mumbled under his breath.
“Really? Again?” Oka asked him, very unimpressed.
Reki apologized to his manager, but the man was already walking back in the back store. He came back seconds later with a paper towel so Reki could wash up his hands and the corner of the counter. Langa and the girl were finally coming back towards the cash register, and Reki could feel his pulse speeding up. When they reached the counter, Langa lifted an eyebrow as he saw Reki’s hands covered in ink. Reki shook his head. It wasn’t the time to get into this. Langa looked like he wanted to argue, but the girl demanded his attention again.
“Hum… could I maybe have your number?” She asked with a coy smile. Reki’s face blanched at that. Surely, Langa would say no. “Like in case I have other questions.” She added with a soft smile.
“Sure.” Langa shrugged. “Why not?” He added as he fished his phone out of his pocket to exchange numbers with the girl.
If Reki hadn’t been angry with Langa before, he was now. What the hell! What was Langa doing? The girl thanked Langa for his help and skipped to the cash register with a smile.
Reki rang up her articles and didn’t even bother trying to hide his anger. He was glaring openly at the girl and he could tell Oka wasn’t happy with him. The girl didn’t mention it even if she seemed confused as to why Reki seemed to hate her so much. She grabbed her bag with all her new items and exited Dope Sketch with a wave in Langa’s direction, completely ignoring Reki’s death stare. The door closed behind the girl and a heavy silence fell on the store. Reki was aware he was staring at Langa with a frown and it took everything in him not to snap at his boyfriend. Langa had also noticed and he looked so confused at the stares he was receiving. Reki heard Oka sighed next to him.
“Go to the bathroom and clean your hands, Reki.” Oka ordered, breaking the silence.
Reki looked down at his hands and saw the dry ink between his fingers. “Ok.” He mumbled and ducked to the back.
When he came back to the counter a few minutes later, the rush of the end of the day was in full swing and he didn’t have time to speak to Langa, though maybe it was a good thing since he wasn’t in a good mood. Reki never understood why people always flooded the shop twenty minutes before closing time but tried to use this opportunity to calm down. When Langa finally locked the door behind the last customer of the day, Reki let out an exaggerated sigh. It had been a long day. No, scratch that. The day had been fine until that girl had decided to flirt with his boyfriend.
They closed up the shop in efficient silence, Langa replacing some items while Reki was counting the till. They exited at the back with their skateboard under their arms and said goodbye to their manager. Oka walked away, trying to avoid the weird tension between the two teenagers. Langa turned to Reki who was visibly still annoyed.
“Are you still coming over?” Langa asked.
“Yeah.” Reki mumbled with a frown. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. You seem in a bad mood.” Langa said, hesitant.
Reki sighed. He knew they'd have to talk about it. When they had their first fight, they had promised they would always tell each other when things were on their mind, so he didn’t have a choice but to tell him the truth. He didn’t want to do it behind Dope Sketch, though, so he looked away.
“Can we not talk about it out here?” Reki asked in a small voice.
“Sure.” Langa assured him. “I’ll race you to my place.”
Without giving Reki more of a warning, Langa jumped on his board and sped down the street. Reki took a few seconds to just watch his boyfriend skate away. He knew these few seconds would cost him the victory, but he liked seeing Langa so carefree with his blue hair flying around his face. Langa was moving with such grace on his board. Reki jumped on his board and followed Langa to his apartment. Reki wasn’t exactly in the mood to do a proper race, so he let Langa have first place. Langa had arrived a few seconds before him, and he was waiting for Reki at the base of the stairs with his board in hands. Reki stopped next to him and followed the blue-haired teen up the stairs to his front door.
Reki had spent a lot more time at Langa’s apartment since their first encounter. Having dinner with Langa’s mom wasn’t awkward anymore. She was very nice and supportive of their relationship, which was a relief. Over the months, they developed a comfortable routine.
When they walked into Langa’s apartment, they both leaned their boards against the wall and Langa grabbed his hand to guide him to his bedroom. It wasn’t necessary, since Reki knew where Langa’s bedroom was by now, but it was appreciated. After the tense afternoon Reki had, he was just happy to have any sort of contact with his boyfriend, even though he was still a bit mad at him. They entered Langa’s bedroom and the taller teen closed the door behind them. Reki sat on the edge of Langa’s bed and raised an eyebrow at him.
“My mom is out with some friends, but I don’t want us to be interrupted again.” Langa explained.
Langa’s words brought a blush to Reki’s cheeks as he remembered how he had met Langa’s mother. Not that he was planning on making out with Langa. At least, not right now. They needed to talk first.
Langa sat next to Reki on the edge of the bed. Even if he was annoyed with him, Reki couldn’t help but press himself to his boyfriend’s side. Langa’s hand found its way to his thigh and his long fingers were drawing slow circles on it. Reki let a low sigh escape his mouth, as the words stumbled into his mind.
“Can you tell me what got you so on edge this afternoon?” Langa asked him when he felt Reki relax against his side.
“It’s no big deal...” Reki mumbled.
“It must have been somewhat of a big deal. You looked very tense baby.” Langa insisted.
“Ok, fine.” Reki straightened up and turned slightly so he could face him properly. “I was annoyed at this girl that you helped.”
“Which one?” Langa asked, looking at Reki in confusion.
Reki sighed. Trust his boyfriend to not notice that the girl had been flirting with him. Though he had changed positions, he was grateful that Langa never stopped his fingers from drawing patterns on his thigh. The soothing pressure helped him stay calm.
“The blonde one with the checkered skirt. She was clearly flirting with you!” Reki exclaimed.
He knew he sounded childish and that he was probably pouting, but he needed to say it as he had seen it. He still couldn’t shake the feeling away. Intimidated, he stared at the blanket on the bed, following the patterns with his eyes, instead of looking directly at his boyfriend.
“Really?” Langa asked, half confused and half surprised.
“See! That’s also a part of the problem!” Reki complained. “I could’ve dealt with her flirting with you if you had told her to back off, but you didn’t even notice so she thought she had a chance!” Reki added.
“I just thought she was really friendly.” Langa blinked.
Reki turned his eyes on his boyfriend and squinted at him. That was another problem. Langa was serious when he said he didn’t notice. He never did. How could Reki be mad at him? He was still hurt and annoyed and didn’t know where to direct all these emotions, but the anger had died down.
“Babe. She kept touching you and checking you out. She laughed at everything you said.” Reki deadpanned. “And I love you, but you’re not that funny.”
Langa’s hands stopped moving and he stayed silent as if he was thinking about what Reki had just told him.
“I’m sorry.” Langa finally said.
“It’s not even your fault if you didn’t notice she was doing it.” Reki sighed.
“I still hurt your feelings, even if I didn’t mean to. And I’m sorry for that.” Langa said before pressing a sweet kiss to Reki’s cheek.
“I wasn’t that hurt until you gave her your number.” Reki said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Langa nodded. “Yeah, with everything you just told me, I can understand why. I’ll delete her number if you want.”
Reki was grateful for Langa’s comprehension, but why did it have to be in insight? Langa should’ve seen it before he said anything and before saying yes to the girl. Now it kind of looked like he had led her on and that was never a good look.
“What is it?” Langa asked as he brought his hand to Reki’s forehead and smoothed the frown between his eyebrows.
“It’s nothing. Thank you for understanding.” Reki said with a tight smile.
“Come on baby, you can tell me.” Langa said softly.
“Why do I always have to point it out when people are hitting on you?” Reki blurted out.
Langa looked at him with wide eyes. He still kept his hands over Reki’s body, so he probably wasn’t that offended. The taller boy was clearly surprised, though.
“Baby, how can I put this into words… I feel absolutely no physical attraction for anyone, except for you. The same goes for sexual desires. Only for you.” Langa tried to explain.
“But the girl was fucking hot!” Reki exclaimed in disbelief.
“Was she?” Langa asked, genuinely curious.
“Y-yeah…?” He huffed, surprised at how unaware Langa was. “Dude, she rocked the skater girl aesthetic.” Reki admitted with a faint blush. He was able to admit he would’ve found the girl pretty cool if she hadn’t tried to hit on his boyfriend.
“I don’t care about her. I don’t even care about anyone, like at all. You’re the only one for me, Reki.” Langa replied softly.
Oh fuck, Reki was so smitten with this boy right now. He let out a choked-out moan at Langa’s words. Which made the blue-haired boy smiled knowingly at him. They were both well acquainted with the effect Langa’s compliments had on Reki by now. And Langa basically saying that Reki was the love of his life definitely did the trick. His tummy filled with butterflies as he looked at him with fondness.
“I promise I’ll try to pay more attention if something like that happens again.” Langa whispered in Reki’s ear.
Reki nodded but he wasn’t even sure he had registered Langa’s words. His boyfriend was cupping his cheeks and running his thumb slowly on the sensitive skin under his eyes. Reki closed his eyes for a brief second and leaned into the touch. When he looked at Langa again, his boyfriend already had his blue eyes glued on him. They were drinking in his features and had a look of adoration painted on them. Reki snaked his arms around Langa's shoulders and brought him down for a kiss. It was only when their lips touched that he felt the tension he had carried all afternoon melt away. Langa kept one hand on his cheek and the other tangled in his hair, bringing Reki even closer. He responded to the kiss with enthusiasm and Reki felt a bit dumb, thinking back at his jealous reaction of this afternoon. Langa had never given him a reason to be worried about their relationship, they were both in it for the long run. Reki tightened his hold around his boyfriend’s neck and abandoned himself in the kiss as Langa’s tongue entered his mouth.
He still wasn’t sure he understood why Langa didn’t feel any physical attraction for anyone besides him. Reki wasn’t even sure Langa understood it all himself. The only thing he was sure of was the fact that he loved Langa and that Langa loved him back. And that was more than enough.
And if the girl called Langa the next day, Reki happily sent her to the voicemail while Langa was still asleep by his side.